Major ports incur over Rs 53-crore loss: CAG

Some of the 12 major ports, including Mumbai and Kolkata, have lost over Rs 53.5 crore on account of under-recovery or revenue loss, government auditor CAG has said.

While Mumbai Port failed to revise parking charges incurring a loss of Rs 23.10 crore, Kolkata Port saw under recovery to the tune of Rs 13.36 crore, Comptroller and Auditor General of India or CAG has said in its latest report, tabled in Parliament.

“Failure of Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) to revise parking charges resulted in loss of revenue of Rs 23.10 crore over the past six years on night parking charges alone,” it said. These charges, fixed under the MbPT General Bye-Laws, have not been revised for long. “Audit observed that Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) collects higher parking charges in similar localities and also revises the rates periodically. “Therefore, taking the MCGM parking rates as basis, MbPT suffered a revenue loss of Rs 23.10 crore between 2010-11 and 2015-16,” the report said.

About Kolkata Port, it said decision of the management to grant credit for the cargo imported by a private party under strategic plan against another agreement relating to lease of land resulted in under-recovery of guaranteed on-board cum wharfage charges to the tune of Rs 13.36 crore.